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Languages
__TOC__ The languages spoken on Chimyrr can be broken down into two separate groups; the native languages of the inhabitants of the world, and the immutable languages of the inner and outer spheres. Most Chimyrr languages are broken down by racial lines, with various languages having a wide (or limited) range of different dialects, which vary by nation, faction, or simple distance. These dialects can vary greatly from one area to the next, meaning that native speakers of the same core language but different dialects are not guaranteed to be able to understand one another. Related to the racial languages but separate in regards to intent, Trade Tongues are artificial or creole languages which have arisen to facilitate interaction between diverse groups that may not otherwise share a tongue. The downside to these languages is that they are almost universal in their intent, mostly focusing on the words and concepts of trade, politics, and other immediate interactions. In contrast to the diverse and varying languages of the mortal races, the languages of the Inner and Outer Planes are small in number and immutable. In many cases, a planar language is a singular entity which is spoken and understood by every native of a specific plane. Racial Languages Aklo: An ancient language, aklo seemingly predates the fall of the Progenitors. Aklo is spoken mostly by subterranean races and degenerate reptilekin. Draconic: The language of the dragons, draconic is also spoken by kobold tribes. Reasonably immune to permutation, most variation in draconic is not found in dialects but in the personal speech habits of individual dragons. Dwarven: One of the older languages spoken in Chimyrr, dwarven does not change very readily. Despite this, dwarven has splintered into many different dialects due to the sheer expanse and reach of dwarven civilisation - though many dialects are similar enough for partial understanding. Dwarven is characterised by harsh sounds and long words. Durn Halden dialect dwarven Elven: Despite origins as old as the fall of the Progenitors, elven is a language that is unrecognisable from its roots. Reflecting the adaptability and fickle nature of the people who speak it, elven changes and splits constantly and rapidly, ensuring a wide variety of different dialects, which can vary as much from family to family. Spoken elven is often rhythmic and melodic, comprising of multitudes of short words that are woven together to produce complex concepts or statements. Elehmish dialect elven Giant: More a collection of similar racial sub-languages than a singular language, the languages of giants stem from families of pre-cataclysm languages that have been further influenced by trollish, gnoll and other modern tongues. Gnoll: The gnollish language is a mix of animalistic yipping and barks mixed with ancient forms of trollish. Gnoll is spoken primarily by gnolls, but also by many races that interact with the species both via terrain or trade. Gnomish: Drawing its roots from the Sylvan the first gnomes to return to the Material Plane, gnomish is similar to elven in its fluid nature and rapid transformation. Now completely separate from its origin, gnomish only passingly resembles Sylvan, but with obvious elven influence. Human: The original human languages were all heavily influenced by the dwarven tongue, who were responsible for teaching the ways of civilsation to the young race. Since then however, humans have developed as many languages as there seem to be nations and factions to speak them. While not as malleable as elven or gnomish, the many dialects of human language are among the most varied and widespread on Chimyrr. March Common Imperial Caelorast Low Caelorast Sheyadeng Necril: The language of intelligent undead, necril comes in two main forms - necril’viir and necril’gurgich. Both forms comprise of both verbal components that can be performed via whispers or almost-closed mouths, and physical gestures and sign language. Tesh Necril’viir Reek: Almost indistinguishable from the chittering of rodents and other vermin, reek is in fact an advanced and complex language. Spoken almost entirely in chitters, hisses and squeaks, reek remains a difficult language for non-native speakers to learn. Shae: The language of the tenebrious people of the Shadow Plane, shae is spoken by members of the shae race, fetchlings, and the dark folk. Tabaxi: Due to the relative youth of the tabaxi as a unified race, and the relative homogeneity of the tabaxi empire, the tabaxi language is still a singular entity. Spoken through the empire archipelago of Tabax’tilac and its colonies, the formation of dialects in the empire’s farthest reaches is only now just beginning. Tengu: The language of the tengu race and a number of other avian races such as the strix, the tengu tongue relies heavily on calls, caws and song made possible by avian physiology. Trollish: The trollish language evolved from the base proto-language of the feral trolls, independent of most other racial languages. Trollish is spoken by the trolls and their client greenskin races - and occasionally by the products of failed racecrafting, such as ogres and ettins. Khatouni trollish Trade Tongues Undercommon: A trade tongue consisting of a creole mix of aklo, dwarven and reek, undercommon is used by subterranean races to facilitate inter-species communication. Undercommon originally began through the behaviour of reek caravans picking up pieces of the languages of those they interacted with as they travelled, eventually coalescing into a distinct language. As a trade tongue, undercommon primarily focuses on trade and political subjects and concepts. Planar Languages Abyssal: The “native” tongue of the Lower Planes, abyssal is the dark language spoken primarily in the abyss, and by the original inhabitants of both Hell and Abaddon. Aquan: The language of the Plane of Water and its inhabitants, such as the marids and tritons. Auran: The language of the Plane of Air and its inhabitants, such as the djinn and invisible stalkers. Celestial: Celestial is a rigid and complex tongue, spoken by the natives of many Good and Law aligned outer planes, such as Axis, or Heaven. Daemonic: The nihilistic speech of the daemons, daemonic is also spoken by the divs and certain types of planar undead. Ignan: The language of the Plane of Fire and its inhabitants, such as the efreeti and azers. Infernal: The constructed language of devils, infernal is spoken by the denizens of the planes that comprise Hell, such as the devils, asuras and kytons. Protean: A paradox of a language, the protean tongue is both immutable and ever-changing. Almost a way of thinking rather than a language, protean varies almost by speaker but is generally understandable to anyone else who also understands the language. The language itself utilises almost every possible mode of communication, including speech, gestures, colour, telepathy, scents, and touch. Protean is spoken by the natives of the Maelstrom and the Astral plane. Sylvan: The language of the First World, the primordial planar mixing between the Material Planes and Elysium. Sylvan is spoken by denizens of the First World and Elysium, and by fey creatures on the Material Plane. Terran: The language of the Plane of Earth and its inhabitants, such as the shaitan and xorn. Category:Culture and Society